Wednesday, May 7, 2014

May is "Beautiful" - 1/10 B.O.G.'s Song

I've decided to celebrate my favorite CD "Beautiful" (2004/Serious Creature Music) this "Beautiful" month of May! Going in order of tracks, here is the first (of 10 tracks): B.O.G.'s Song. Please enjoy it here on YouTube http://bit.ly/SzWBJe and feel free to capture and download, or find it elsewhere for free online if you wish. You can also listen to samples and read the many wonderful reviews I was fortunate to receive for that album, all at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/xavierc.

This
is the first album i've heard in a long while where I fell in love
with every track. It heals every part of my broken heart..
-Alisa Raymond

“A
series of open windows...” cassendre
xavier’s music is a series of open windows that have bright vibrant
shutters, deep sills, and stained glass that play with sunlight in
such a marvelous way. –sarahbean

“A
rare talent and true artist...”

The
CD "Beautiful" shows what a rare talent Cassendre Xavier
is. Her voice is a soothing blend of Sade and Tracy Chapman-with a
uniqueness all her own. Cassendre is a true artist. -Samori Coles,
Founder/Artist/Producer, Lil' Drummaboy Recordings

“Hooks
listeners...”

In
"Beautiful", Xavier touts the benefits of hooking listeners
with songs they already know. Her last studio album, 2004's
Beautiful, included the Ewan MacColl standard "The First Time
Ever I Saw Your Face," Sheryl Crow's "Strong Enough"
and Julie Miller's "All My Tears." -M.J. Fine, Philadelphia
City Paper

“Lush
Melancholy...”

There
is a lush melancholy that informs and hangs over each note. Xavier's
melodic delivery works in perfect and beautiful tandem with her
expressive strumming like very few other singers. Some day Cassandre
Xavier will be the name people mention when asked "who
influenced you to write and play?" -MagnaPhone Magazine

So,
it was the early 2000s, I was a full-time self-employed artist
(finally!) and I decided to learn to play the blues and I was also in
the mood for a new boyfriend. I went to South Street Blues around
20th
& South and accomplished both. B.O.G., the persun I wrote this
song about, was not the lover. He was a married bassist who affected
me the way the song says. He also hosted the open mic series there.
There, I met and watched P.M. Eaton (Phunkyman) play a lot, and was
really inspired by his funky rock guitar style and scorchin' solos.
My friend, jazz poet and sax & flute player Elliott Levin was
there often, too, and once he brought a friend of his. This friend
was a talk, dark, very serious looking Italian actor and blues
singer, songwriter, guitarist and harmonica player. He played there
sometimes, and brought his friend Ancestor Goldsky who I saw play the
best drum solo I've ever seen in my life. The Actor started calling
me “Kid”, and I started going to his rehearsals, both for his
theater plays and his blues band. I was completely enthralled and
entranced not only by him but by being in his world of art. I fell
for him hard. He was a Piscean and his stories were so beautiful and
real.

The
line in this song where I say “he brings to me my muse, and love
that I can use and can learn from”, I mean that he, B.O.G., through
his event and the music it brought me, attracted The Actor to me. The
Actor became my muse. I was more creatively productive in the few
months I lived with him (Oh, heah, that part comes later!), than I
was in any other relationship before or since.

How I
came to live with him was as I was hanging out with him, I learned
that he tended to become romantically involved with his leading
ladies. I was already sweet on him and he probably felt something
too, but neither of us made a direct move, although it already looked
to other people like we were seeing each other, and it certainly felt
like it to me.

On
this particular night, he was going to have the first night of a play
in which there's a leading lady. I didn't want to let him have to
deal with any temptation to enjoy the company of any other female
after the play besides me.

So, I
donned a sexy outfit I wore often at the time, black halter top with
sheer lace blouse, mini skirt, fishnet garter stockings, and high
heels. Prior to that, he'd only seen me in tie-dyed tee shirts,
jeans, and my steel-toe motorcycle boots.

I
believe the look made an impression, because as we sat at the bar at
the end of the play, he said to me, “So, you wanna go home?”
Although he didn't end that sentence, “..with me,” my immediate
understanding was “Our home,” because I'd hung out with him
before at his place. This time, I just didn't leave.

Thanks,
B.O.G. Your presence brought me a love I'll never forget, plus two
songs, two chapbooks, and stories that I'll enjoy telling for a long,
long time.